Eddie Johnson must have known there would be backlash when he rubbed his fingers together and mouthed "Pay me" after scoring only goal of
Seattle’s 1-0 defeat of Columbus last weekend, right?

Or maybe he didn’t realize it. Just as possible is the likelihood he didn’t care. His track record shows he
occasionally lapses into his own world, and a year and a half in MLS after several lost seasons overseas seems the right time to remind the world how immature you are. If there’s one team that
has been more than willing to pay, and sometimes overpay, its top talent, it’s Seattle. But it does so in its own manner.

Johnson obviously isn’t a student of history. Long
before signing Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey as Designated Players, the Sounders acquired former Arsenal star and Swedish international Freddie
Ljungberg for their inaugural MLS season in 2009. (They had tried to talk up a deal for Thierry Henry but nobody bought the notion that he’d agree to play his home
games on artificial turf.)

Ljungberg contributed a solid first season, and raved about the crowds at was then Qwest Field, but fairly early in his second campaign began dropping hints
he’d like to negotiate and sign a new contract. Sounders’ management demurred, stating its preference to wait until the end of the season. Frictions escalated fairly quickly and in
midseason of 2010 Seattle traded Ljungberg to Chicago, and not long after that he returned to Europe.

It’s not likely the Sounders will trade Johnson, though bumping him up into
Designated Player class will take some maneuvering, since the team is already full up on DPs with three. Now that teams can use “retention funds” to pay players a DP salary without
classifying them as such, and allocation money could be available in case Seattle wants to go that route, he could be negotiating a new deal soon enough.

The Sounders have played down
Johnson’s gesture, mindful that they took him on last year when nobody else would, in the wake of a failed move to Mexican club Puebla upon the recommendation of DaMarcus
Beasley that lasted just a few days. Seattle invited him to preseason camp in Florida and the impression he made on Sigi Schmid and team management prompted an opportunity
for him to revive his skidding career. He was paid a base salary of $100,000 last year and is earning $150,000 in 2013, much less than he bagged during several years of struggle at Fulham and while
out on loan.

Which brings up the question: What happened to all the money he earned before he came back to MLS? While a modest club by Premier League standards, Fulham paid him well, and
before he left MLS he signed a contract worth a base salary of $750,000 per season. (Officially, this was before the adoption of the Designated Player rule, so the contracts of Johnson and
Landon Donovan and others were “grandfathered” for their duration.) If he’s not in desperate need, why be so brazen and publicly embarrass your employer?

Obviously, Johnson is piggybacking on the huge contracts recently signed by USA teammates Donovan and Clint Dempsey, but he should remember their careers have progressed
dramatically since Johnson’s entry onto the national team in 2004. His stagnated for several years and was basically dormant until the Sounders reached out to him. He went more than four years
between scoring goals for the national team, from June 2008 to October 2012.

He should also take note of the fact he failed in England. Dempsey and Donovan (on loan to Everton)
didn’t. While MLS has certainly rewarded players returning to MLS after flopping overseas -- that’s you, Freddy Adu -- it does so selectively. And there have been antics
in the past: last year he triggered a melee in a U.S. Open Cup match by taunting San Jose players and coaches on the bench as he and the Sounders celebrated the winning goal.

So is Johnson
just crying out for attention, to bring his crusade for a new contract public? Probably. The shelf life of a professional athlete is relatively short and the prime age for most soccer players is about
where he is now, at 29. His next contract could well be his last major deal.

Yet that was a very childish 29-year-old on display in Columbus, and it can’t have helped his bargaining
position with Seattle management. However, it’s probably not harmed it much either, since Johnson has done what he’s paid to do -- score goals -- since re-starting his career in Seattle.
He’s netted 25 in 57 games, and is already second on the team’s all-time MLS goalscoring list. His national team career is back on track, too.

Scoring goals is something his
teammates, coaches and fans can count on. But the player who once described himself as a "Grown-Ass Man" really isn't.

No excuses, but when has it ever been the norm for professional athletes to act in a politically correct or business savvy manner? He knows when to shut-up and score goals when they count now, and that will bring him a considerable contract whether he gestured or not!

Eric Schmitt

commented on: September 5, 2013 at 9:42 a.m.

I really can't believe we're going on about this. Is it really that slow a news week?

Andrea Hana

commented on: September 6, 2013 at 2:06 a.m.

I have to agree. I am a Sounders fan. I can vouch for many of us that we don't approve of that kind of behavior. Dempsey came over here with such appreciation and awe. We're so glad to have him and he's glad to be here. He is enjoying the fans, like no other in the US, and he is enjoying living here on Lake Washington in the area of Seattle. Johnson, after we gave him a shot, is showing a lack of appreciation and is crapping on his contract. He should be doing his job, with grace, and the pay-off will come.